Nadal Takes Toronto, New York Wins WTT
Rafael Nadal looked uncomfortable at times during his semi final match against Andy Murray in Toronto, but he quickly resolved all problems against Nicolas Kiefer for his 5th title of the season. Hard is Nadal's least favorite surface, but he's healthy, his confidence is riding high after winning two consecutive Grand Slam titles, and he is the man to beat on the ATP Tour. If Rafa can stay agressive on hard courts, he will be very tough to beat, but the one thing that the Spaniard can't do, is tighten up. For what ever reason, Nadal occasionally gets tight on hard courts, possibly because he doesn't have as much time to position himself for his huge groundies, or due to the fact the courts are faster than clay....the bottom line is that Nadal is inching towards Federer's #1 ranking, and is in great form as the Olympics and US Open approach. World Team Tennis is complete, here are final results:
New York Buzz capture first World TeamTennis title with 21-18 win over Kansas City Explorers (courtesy WTT)
ROSEVILLE, Calif. (July 27, 2008) --- It took 14 years and four attempts, but the New York Buzz finally captured their first World TeamTennis Championship, posting a 21-18 win over the Kansas City Explorers Sunday at Allstate Stadium at Westfield Galleria in Roseville, Calif.
The Buzz handed
“We played point by point today and we never looked at the finish line,” said Buzz coach Jay Udwadia. “We really came together as a team this weekend and this is a team I really want to keep together for next year. This is an absolutely great experience.”
The Buzz won the two singles events, when Nathan Healey defeated Dusan Vemic 5-3 in men’s singles and Yaroslava Shvedova posted a 5-3 win over Kveta Peschke in women’s singles. The two singles wins gave the Buzz a 10-6 lead after the first two events.
With the match tied at 16-all headed into the final event, Healey and Patrick Briaud came up strong to close out the match, defeating the Explorers’ James Auckland and Vemic 5-2. The match ended on a point when Vemic touched the net to seal the victory and the first WTT crown for the Buzz.
“We played really well in the last set and even if Vemic had not touched the net, we were prepared to serve for the match at the end,” Healey said following the match. “After more than three weeks on the road and playing a lot of matches, it feels great to win the whole thing.”
The New York Buzz have been in WTT for 14 years and Sunday was the fourth time the team reached the WTT Final. In 2007, the Buzz lost in the final to the Sacramento Capitals and they also reached the Final in 2002 and 1998.
“We knew from the time we drafted this team, we were going to win this year,” said Nitty Singh, longtime owner of the New York Buzz. “This championship has been a long time coming and things worked out well for us this year. From relocating the team to a new site in
The MVP for the WTT Championship Weekend was Rennae Stubbs, who had the best winning percentage of any player in the semifinals and final match of the 2008 WTT Championship Weekend.
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Harry Cicma tackles the hot topics in tennis, sharing his insight on the favorites, tournament news and players to watch. Harry was ranked for three years on the ATP Tour doubles circuit and played four years of NCAA Division-I tennis at Rutgers University. He now covers all sports as a TV producer/anchor on NBC in Southern New England.
Naturally, I expect the women to bring home the medals but the men are a joke.
I didn't even watch them. The best men for us are Roddick and Blake. They both have been horrible and forgettable. Roddick did not even go but even if he did then I doubt that it would have matter. Both have the athletic game but something mentally is missing with them.
Venus is my pick and I know she is going to slay the competition. That includes her baby sis.